Write the school board

To: “Lori O. Hershey” <hersheyl@duvalschools.org>, “April A. Carney” <carneya1@duvalschools.org>, “Kelly G. Coker” <cokerk@duvalschools.org>, “Cynthia H. Pearson” <PearsonC1@duvalschools.org>, “Charlotte D. Joyce” <joycec@duvalschools.org>, “Warren A. Jones” <jonesw2@duvalschools.org>, “Darryl D. Willie” <willied@duvalschools.org>

Honorable School Board,

I heard Mayor Deegan and Councilman Diamond say at a Atlantic Beach City Commissioner meeting that ABE isn’t going to be closed. Why does it still remain on the closure list?

Why hasn’t the school board already taken ABE, Fishweir, Stockton, Holiday Hill , and other schools that the community made passionate pleas to save off the list?

The board can adjust the list gradually, yes? Why won’t the board vote to save the schools that the community loves? They could also develop more alternates based on the feedback they’ve received so far. Alternate 2 for the Terry Parker feeder pattern does keep Holiday Hill open. Why not suggest more alternates? Is the board seriously listening to the community and will the board adjust the plans based on feedback they are getting? 

At a recent community meeting for District 3 to discuss the proposed changes to the MFP (Master Facility Plan) Moms For Liberty (M4L) were there making public comments. Someone in the audience called out the Moms For Liberty (M4L) lady in the orange dress after she spoke and loudly said, “Yea well you send your kids to Private!” 

Charter schools and private schools are doing a good job getting their supporters out to vote as evidenced by Moms For Liberty April Carney winning her election. We need public school supporters getting out to vote so no more M4L candidates get on our school board. M4L’s goal seems to be to harm our public schools, in my opinion (of course) and the opinion of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

What can our neighborhoods do to keep the school board from closing their neighborhood school?  

Excerpts from this article:

In both these cities and others with proposed closures, communities fought back, and school closures lost political favorability.

Thus, while state and federal policies are certainly to blame for school closures, school district leaders make moral decisions … without adequately assessing the harms that closures cause or the projected cost savings.

Link to the article:
https://advancementproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP-SchoolClosureActionKit_FINAL.pdf

The job of the locally elected school board is to make every public neighborhood, magnet, and center school EXCELLENT! The charter schools have their own governing boards. As a 2013 TU article makes clear, “One of the biggest policy priorities for the charter school industry in recent years has been expansion.” 

In a recent TU article Marks Woods quoted a public-school supporter, “If the school shuts down, I believe you start to see a decline in the whole neighborhood. In my opinion, it would be devastating.”  The article continues to quote the supporter saying the neighborhood school is the main pillar of “cohesiveness and stability” for a neighborhood.